Introduction, My Story And Questions :d

[beth0905 0]

Hi Everyone!

I've spent the past few days reading the forums here and have been on a rollercoaster of happiness and hope and being terrified of complications,

So I live in Ma and had the lapband surgery completed in December of 08. I've had the band just about three years.

I started at about 330 and dropped down to 243 at my lowest. I was never hungry, I had so much energy, I was super concerned about my hair thinning and such which was a bummer but I was on a roll.

Then I had too much restriction after a fill and I had a slip or something (He never told me after the swallow) and all the Fluid was removed from my band. 4 weeks later he started slowly filling me up. At this point I started gaining weight.

Over the course of the next two years I have been not full enough and so hungry and basically dieting (which I suck at.. let's face it.. we all sucked at it right?) to overfilled and sliming, puking one day and okay the next. But I developed this almost abject fears of solids. Every time I'd try, more often then not, I"d end up throwing up. But I was a good little lapband solider. I saw my doctor/surgeon once or twice a month for adjustments. I went to the nutrionist a few times. I tried my hardest to avoid mushies and I was so tired all the time I got my carb cravings back and it's been monumental staying away.

Well I'm up to 300 again and my doctor said he knows I tried but the band is failed. My port hurts all the time, my teeth are starting to erode from all the being sick, I never know what to eat or not eat anymore.

So he suggested sleeve. At the time I got my lapband 3 friends of mine got bypass. All are thin and I'm not. So I hadn't even considered sleeve.

He suggested a surgeon for me that does the revisions and I went to the appointment. She pushed the sleeve. Said it was a much easier surgery to convert from lapband to sleeve and 1/3 of the time when she goes in there and removes the band for bypass patients she has to sew them back up to heal a bit. So I went home a little confused. DId some research. Read these forums and started to have hope for myself again. I decided on sleeve.

I will find out my surgery date next week after I finish the three appointments I need to attend (today, mon/tues).

Today was the nutrionist class. (Gosh I've been to so many I could teach them). In the pamphlet it said you could expect to lose 8-20 pounds in the first two months then it will slowly come off.

They only require a 2 week liquid diet (but you can have chicken breast for dinner). Which is odd. I had 2 week only liquid diet for lapband. So I mighht just do a strictly Protein shakes, sugarfree Jello type thing again on my own.

I got a little discouraged at that at the pamphlet saying that you could expect to lose (only) 8-20 pounds the first two months. I thought sleeve would be a faster weight loss. Even faster then the lapband and more along the lines of bypass weight loss. Am I wrong? How fast does the weight come off? Is it similiar to bypass?

Even though my lapband doctor says he thinks my band is fine I am terrified of them finding it grew into an organ, or adhesions galore or something terrible. Also afraid of the idea of a leak. There was a woman in the weighting room in one of those very expensive reclining electrical wheelchairs who looked so sickly and I was about 2 minutes from bolting. (this surgeon does lapbands, bypass and sleeves and I think ds)

I had no hope at all of losing weight about a year ago until I went to this appointment. Now I have hope but I'm almost afraid to. I want to go into this as positively as I did the lapband surgery and with the commitment and energy that I will lose 100 percent of my extra weight but I have questions if someone can help me.

Is the weight loss after the revision slower/faster than the lapband?

Is it similiar to having a bypass (the weight loss speed)?

Were you nervous wrecks pre-surgery?

Is the hunger less than when you had the lapband?

Would you do it all over again if you went back in time?

Any advice for me?

Thank you so much for reading my rambling!

[Spatters3 315]

*BIG HUG* I'm getting my VSG done this Monday so I'm in the same boat as you - hopeful but afraid to hope, excited but afraid it will all be for naught, will it work at all ? will I be too fatigued to do my job ? will my hair fall out ??? arrrgh ! You know what... no matter what everyone else experiences, it will be different for us because we're different than them. Some people have done wonderfully with the lap band, but not you. Some people can diet and excercise their way to slimness, but not you or me. I think we just have to keep on trying. Oh, don't go off willy nilly and fall for every weight loss scheme out there, but research, learn, ask questions, and then decide. Yes, I am giving myself a pep talk. This is all scary stuff. I refuse to be afraid. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." Amen.

[Katie713 423]

Here is some of the basic advantages to having the sleeve, I pasted the information from the Bariatric.us website. I went through the 12 week Kaiser pre-op program and received tons of information on the surgery and on the nutritional requirements before and after surgery.

There are tons of success stories on this website and also alot of issues, mostly in the early phases of recovery after surgery. Most long term sleevers wish they had done the surgery long ago.

I will be sleeved in April of this year, and I have been on restricted calories since last September and already lost nearly 40 pounds. I am looking forward to the next leg of this journey.

The effects of gastric sleeve surgery are:

• restricts food intake
  
• controls hunger
  

Following gastric sleeve surgery, food continues to move through the digestive system naturally, from the time it enters the stomach to the time it is released into the small intestine through the pyloric valve. The difference is that after surgery the amount of food that can be eaten at any one time is greatly reduced.

The surgery also helps to control hunger, because the upper portion of the stomach that produces the hunger stimulating hormone Ghrelin is removed during surgery.

Advantages

• Intestines not cut, rerouted, or bypassed, so does not cause malabsorption or nutritional deficiencies
  
• Keeps pyloric valve intact, thus reducing ulcer risk and avoiding dumping syndrome
  
• Food does not get stuck on way into stomach, as is possible with gastric banding
  
• Can usually be performed laparoscopically, even on very obese patients
  
• Safer and less complex than a combined restrictive/malabsorptive procedure, especially for patients with health problems
  
• Option for patients with health concerns or medical issues, such as anemia, Crohn’s disease, anti-inflammatory drug use, or prior surgery, that prevents them from other bariatric procedures
  
• Does not require a medical implant (gastric band) or adjustments
  
• Average weight loss of 30% to 50% excess weight in first eighteen months
  
• May be converted to duodenal switch for additional weight loss
  
• Revision option for gastric band patients
  

[blondeej 111]

I am a bandster getting a revision sometime around June/July (depending on how long it takes me to save the $, I am self pay). My doc's stats are:

We are happy to inform you that the latest follow up study shows that Dr. Aceves’ sleeve patients lose on average 96% of their excess body weight in under 12 months. Not all sleeve techniques are the same, some patients experience poor weight loss because of the surgeon’s technique.

I trust my doc so much - he did great with my band surgery. I have no complications due to the band, just am not able to receive proper fill/aftercare here in the states like I had planned. I've only had 2 fills since my surgery Feb 4, 2011 and have lost right under 40 lbs. Can't wait for my sleeve bc I won't have to worry about follow up care other than labs, which ANY doc can do and my insurance will cover labs, but will not cover any sort of gastric adjustment.

I really think that if I could see my doc 2-3 times a month I would of already been down 100 lbs or so by my year out - but that's just not how the cards fell for me. I am a fighter and I am not going to give up! I could of never afforded the Sleeve a year ago, but am going to be able to manage it now. Where there's a will there's a way. I need to find my happiness and sparkle again!! :ciappa:

[beth0905 0]

Thank you all Especially for the words of support.

I've been busy reading more and there seems to be an awful lot of stories of leaks or am I reading the threads wrong?

I read that this is the surgery with the least amount of potential complications but then a lot of the threads seem to be about leaks. Or maybe it's a few people and I just haven't noticed the multiple posts.

I was hoping someone who had the revision done (successfully!) would chime in and answer some of my questions about the rate of weightloss.

Spatter I'll keep you in my thoughts tomorrow I"m sure it will all go really well!

[carbgrl 119]

I believe the risk for leaks / complications is 1-2%. I'd take those odds in Vegas any day. Of course, our health is nothing to gamble with. As someone else on here said, 1% isn't bad until it's you then it's a 100% (sorry I don't remember who said that) which is very true.

I think it's a very personal decision, it's up to you to weigh the good against the risks. Do you have other health conditions that increase your risks for health problems in the future (diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea..) that shorten your life expectancy?. How about your general happiness? I'm miserable being overweight. I lost weight with the band and then gained it all back. I was within 7 lbs from my goal when I started gaining it back. I avoid friends and family. This gives me the motivation to exercise because I don't feel iike it's useless and wasting my time. I hate feeling like I can't comfortably tie my shoes. Forget about shaving my legs or bikini area. I hated wasting money on quick weightloss scams that never worked clothes in 10 different sizes.

I'm rambling but, it's completely normal to be scared and have second thoughts. It is a major surgery. It has very real risks. I chose the one of the best surgeons I could find. It's a "Center of Excellence". I plan on following my Doctor's instructions to a T. I know my doctor has made every attempt to be cautious and avoid complications. Diagnostics, labwork, pre-op diet to "shrink" the stomach. In the end, I think all we can do is our homework, comply with our doctor's orders and pray.

[BKdoll 3]

I had my band removed and a gastric sleeve done last November 23. I had some of the same concerns you've voiced -- mostly because two doctors told me they suggested the RNY. But I was concerned about the idea of rerouting my intestines and I really wanted the sleeve, so that's what I did.

I've found that for me, the rate of weight loss has been faster than the band. And more steady. Comparatively, I think it's slower than RNY. The recovery time for me was longer -- I had a lot of scar tissue from the band. And it took more time before I was able to eat food. but now, 2 1/2 months out, I am able to eat solid Proteins that I had to avoid with the band. I don't miss the sliming, the reflux, the constant back and forth with the fills because we couldn't get it to the right place. I have no regrets, and I wish I would have given up on the band sooner.

I was a nervous wreck prior to surgery. In fact, I called the day before and asked to change my surgery to RNY. I wasn't able to because it required other tests. I'm surprised they let me continue with my surgery as much as I was flip-flopping.

As someone else mentioned, it's really a personal choice. After consulting the information and your doctor's, make the decision that, in your heart, you feel is right.